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GLORY HUNGER ...
Ugg! I just read a news story about the tragic shooting two Saturdays ago involving Rep. Gabbi Giffords. In this article, a young man (I won't share his name) was praised for his (seeming) heroic actions at the scene of the shooting. He told news reporters how he, while holding Rep. Giffords in his arms, instructed a bystander to apply pressure to the leg wound of a man who had been shot. In the article he was shown standing by this man as he lay recovering in the hospital.
My wife works with a doctor in Tucson who was among the first few respondants at the scene. No one has interviewed him. No one calls him a hero. Few people know he (and his wife) were there. And few people know his story.
He and his wife drove that Saturday to Safeway to chat with Rep. Giffords. Once they arrived, while still chatting in the car, they heard the rapid gunfire. He rushed to the scene, and in 'doctor mode,' instructed a young man to apply pressure to a man's leg that was squirting blood (sound familiar?), went to attend to Rep. Giffords, and after handing her off to someone else, attended to the 9 year old girl, who lay curled up in fetal position gasping for breath.
This doctor claims no glory. He doesn't publish his actions. He humbly steps around the limelight. He is content to be used by God to help the helpless.
And in my mind this doctor is the true hero. He serves quietly, humbly, sincerely. He is God's healing presence amid the chaos and tragedy of human sin.
I'm not sure why a tragic event like this one causes some (many) to jockey for position, for recognition, for glory. And I'm not sure why some take for themselves what belongs to others.
But I do know this: I honor those who do what is heroic simply because it is the right thing to do and afteward do not seek their own glory but rest contently that their actions were offered in God's sight and He is delighted with them and sings their praise.
I am inspired by this doctor and want to follow him as he follows Jesus ... | 
